Digital Monster Loops
by Heart of Zeo
Summary: Yet another universe joins the madness that is simply known as 'The Infinite Time Loops'. Takato should be careful what he wishes for. (Comments and reviews welcomed! Join us on Spacebattles to help add more!)
1. It Begins

**Welcome to the Infinite Loops Digimon Edition! Before we get to the meat, there are a few things to go over both for those of you who are new to the Infinite Loops and also for those who have read Loops before.**

**First up: For those who are completely new.**

**What you need to know:**

**The Infinite Loops are an overarching frame story that allows multiple fanfic authors to write in a shared continuity. Other than the premise, mention of this will be… sporadic at best.**

**The premise itself is that "SOMETHING" happened that broke the Multiverse, which basically includes every form of fiction, nonfiction... any story you can think of. So while "The People Upstairs" try to fix it, the worlds have been stuck on repeat.**

**In order to prevent every other world from breaking while "The People Upstairs" fix the big issue, they need someone in each world/continuity to be aware that time is "Looping," one that will hopefully make the timeline they are in more stable, an "Anchor" if you will.**

**The Infinite Loops are basically the stories of these Anchors as well as other "Loopers," beings that aren't always aware of Time's resetting nature, trying to keep their sanity as the repeats mount, and their new arch-nemesis, Boredom strikes.**

**Second: For those of you who have read the Loops before:**

**As you may or may not already know there are already Digimon Loops on . These are hosted by Rockbane, in the Story _Random Thoughts of a Chaotic Mind_. So why are we making a new compilation?**

**A couple reasons actually. **

**First this will be dedicated to only posting Digimon Loops, by this we mean Loops that either take place in the Digital World or involve Digimon Characters. **

**Second, to the best of our knowledge Rockbane does not at the time of this posting have a Spacebattles account, the origin point for most of these Loops.**

**Third, it would be rather unfair of us to hijack Rockbane's _Random Thoughts_ as if we understand it correctly, it is Rockbane's place to muse out potential story ideas.**

**Also there will be some differences in style here. Rockbane tends to focus on T.K. and Patamon, the Co-Anchors of Digimon Adventure and 02. Here the primary focus will be on Takato and Guilmon of Tamers, if the mood hits us.**

**Masterofgames, another username of mine, runs the Thread on Spacebattles, and gives the final yey or ney on if a snip will be included. AbZHz101 does the Compiling, which will happen every certain number of snips, so the update schedule is nonexistent. Feel free to contribute your own Loops in the reviews, though we would prefer them to be submitted to Spacebattles so that we can discuss them. The thread name is Digital Monster Loops.**

1.1a (Conceptulist)

A man was furiously typing away at a keyboard. Every now and then he stopped to watch the scene unfolding with his good eye.

_"Takato, I'm glad we're home."_

_"Yeah, it's good to be back. With the people you care about most."_

This man was known by several names. The Furious One, the delayer of Ragnarok, O-Man, the guide of souls, the one eyed wonder, the ruler of Asgard, and the owner and part-time manager of Valhalla Bar and Grill, to name a few.

_"Takato, what's going on?"_

_"Guilmon, uh, uh what's happening?"_

_"I don't know…"_

But the name he was known best by was Odin, chief administrator of the "Norse pantheon" subdivision of admins.

_"Mr. Wong, why are Guilmon and the others de-digivolving?"_

_"The whole world was in danger and there was only one way out. We had to take it, even if it meant losing the digimon. They were never meant for this world."_

Right now, Odin was just finishing up the initializing run of yet another world. He had suffered a few setbacks, but this world was just about ready to be added to failsafe measure known as The Time Loops.

_"But Guilmon's meant to be with me! He's a part of me! I promised him we'd always be together, I promised!"_

_"I had no other choice, the fate of the world was at stake."_

"Done," said Odin, the first time he had spoken out loud in a long while.

_"We'll play again soon, won't we, Takato?"_

_"Remember Takato you promised! You promised! Takato!"_

_"I promise Guilmon, just you wait. We'll be together again soon."_

Odin stood up and stretched the kinks out of his exhausted body. "Nothing left to do except prep for their first loop."

This comment roused a pair of ravens perched on the back of Odin's chair.

"You know, I thought that getting the Digi-Branch looping would be harder," said one of the ravens.

_The world soon went back to normal and after a while so did I._

The other huffed indignantly. "Yeah, well, that's why I do the thinking for the two of us. You're always stuck in the past, you stick-in-the-mud."

"And if your beak wasn't stuck to your head, you'd leave it behind in the nest, you booby."

"You've never have an original thought in your life. Always with your beak stuck in some old text, hunting book worms."

_Even though I thought I'd never be the same._

"If you did your job and thought about it, feather-brain, you'd realize that loop activations are risky. Look at what Hephaestus is dealing with getting the Mega-Branch activated. Bugs, errors, misfires, multiple failed activation attempts, all three the main anchor candidates have significant issues, it's the whole nine circles all at once."

"And if you did your job and remembered something, you dodo, you know that the Mega-Branch has something wrong with it. It's damaged, unlike the Digi-Branch, and has at least twice as many Sub-Branches to deal with. That's why Hephaestus hasn't been assigned anything in addition to it at the moment."

_Life became exactly what it was before I met Guilmon. Kazu still made bad jokes, and Ms. Asaji still gave too much homework._

"Huginn. Muninn. If you two are quite done, I have a loop to activate." With that somewhat obvious statement, Odin prepped for this world to begin time looping. His preparations included setting his swivel chair to the reclined position and grabbing the tub of popcorn he made earlier. "Also, if you both shut up you can have some popcorn."

With a silent agreement pick up where they left off later, the birds dove into the popcorn tub.

_Sometimes I'd go by our old hangouts just to see if he's there. Don't know why I bother 'cause he never is._

A few scenes from a child's life flickered by on the terminal screen. Life had to move forward again for the child. He was a normal kid once again. But soon, very soon by any definition of the word soon, Takato Matsuki was going to become Important in The Grand Scheme of Things once again.

_Most times I'm okay, but there's this one thing that bugs me, a promise I made to a friend, a promise I don't think I can keep._

Odin watched as a child reached for the sum of all that child's hopes and dreams. Odin's hand reached out and pressed a single key on his terminal.

[INSTANCE PAUSED]

A few more keys were pressed.

[BASELINE COMPILED]

[SETTING ANCHOR]

[ANCHOR SET]

[SUB-BRANCH: ANCHOR: TAKATO MATSUKI]

[SUB-BRANCH: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]

[ACTIVATE SUB-BRANCH?]

[YES/NO]

An old man smiled. It wasn't often he got play Fairy Godfather instead of The All-Father.

[YES]

[SUB-BRANCH: ACTIVATED]

_Actually scratch that, I think I'm gonna keep that promise after all.  
><em>

_..._

"Aww, man. It's stuck. Don't tell me-"

Takato's train of thought severely derailed. Memories rushed to his forebrain.

"I-"

Memories of a lifetime's worth of adventure, packed into a few all too short months.

"broke-"

Memories of friends, both new and old.

"it-"

Memories of excitement, of drama, of action, of desperation, of hope, of loss.

"already!"

Takato stopped talking, and he _remembered_. Henry, Rika, Terriermon, Renamon, all of his friends, all their adventures, and how it all ended. With him losing his best friend, _Guilmon_. A promise being made. Hopes being raised, dashed, and then reduced to a general state of unwilling acceptance.

Weeks passed by. And then hope was found anew. The gate, the one at the bottom of Guilmon's hut in the park, was open.

"Takato! Come down, dinner's ready!"

Takato broke free of his flashback montage and answered his mother. "Okay!"

"Before it gets cold, please!"

Looking around, Takato asked himself "What just happened?"

Almost as if in answer, a red light flashed, nearly blinding him. Takato looked for its source and was surprised to find out he was holding it. "My digivice? But I thought-"

Again the light from the digivice's screen pulsed, drawing Takato's attention to the second thing in his hands. A notebook. Not just any notebook, but the notebook that Takato had dreamt up Guilmon on. The last time Takato had seen the notebook was a few hours ago, right before he made one of his trips to the old hangouts.

But here it was, in all its spiral bound glory. Completely whole and untorn. But that wasn't how Takato remembered it. Its pages were supposed to be lightly bound with a rubber band, tucked away in a shoebox under his bed, and safe from harm. They were his last, best connection to Guilmon. Aside from Guilmon Bread, of course.

They were not supposed to be out in his hand, with all the pages still attached to the notebook, and lodged in the card slot of his digivice. Especially when said digivice appeared to be trying to rip pages free and scan them.

"No way," grinned Takato.

Takato lifted his thumb off of the first page of his notebook, freeing the digivice to do its thing.

Smirking wider, Takato reiterated. "No. Way."

A quiet ripping sound was heard. The first page, now free from the notebook, was dragged through the card slot by the digivice. Light sparked from the edge of the paper as it was scanned.

"Whoever you are, where- or whenever you are, thank you."

As soon as the first page was finished, the second was ripped free and scanned as well.

"I'll make the most of it."

More pages followed the first two. Soon, all of the fill up pages would be finished getting scanned.

"I'll make the most of this second chance."

...

Meanwhile, in an Nth-dimensional plane of existence, Odin's eye twinkled.

"You're welcome," he smiled.

Huginn and Muninn looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Though, they did keep quiet. No way were they going to lose popcorn privileges.

...

The last of the pages fluttered to the floor, and the digivice beeped noisily. A familiar sight appeared on the digivice's screen. An egg, marked with a trio of red dots spread out on its edges.

Takato was grinning, and it didn't look like he would stop anytime soon. "I'm coming, Guilmon."

"Takato!"

"Gah!" exclaimed Takato, startled by the sound of his mother's voice. "Right. Dinner first, plans later." Eyes wide, Takato scrambled to pick up all the loose pages as fast as he could. "Be down in a minute!"

"We're waiting, and dinner's getting cold!"

"On my way down!" A rubber band snatched off the desk bound the pages together. Tossing the result onto his desk, Takato ran downstairs. Just as he reached the end of the stairs Takato stuffed his digivice in the front pocket of his shorts.

Takato rushed into the kitchen and was met with a familiar sight. His mom. She wasn't quite how he remembered her last. There were a few less worry-lines on her face. Okay, quite a few less worry-lines and not as many grey hairs. Other that, she hadn't changed a bit.

"You seem happy," she commented.

"Yeah." Takato hadn't stopped smiling since he had figure out what happened. "I just found out I'm going to see a good friend of mine again."

Handing a small, covered dish to Takato, she said "Take this to the table. And is it someone I know?"

Takato headed into the dining room. "Not yet," Takato said over his shoulder. Placing the dish on the table like his mom had asked, Takato knelt down to eat. His father was already there and his mother joined them shortly.

"Itadakimasu!"

...

Later that night, Takato was sitting on his bed contemplating. Mostly by fidgeting with his digivice and mumbling to himself.

"Too soon to find Guilmon," Takato muttered.

He stared at the Digi-Egg displayed by the digivice. It pulsed like a heartbeat. Like a lonely, fragile heart waiting for someone. For a friend, for a teacher, for a Tamer. "Good night, buddy. See ya tomorrow." Staring at the digivice and Guilmon's Digi-Egg on last time, he laid his head down and went to sleep.

Or tried too, as he was too excited fall asleep right away. Takato gave the world an impatient huff and rolled over. He was going to need a good night's sleep to be ready to get Guilmon and take him home. Of course, the world had other plans.

While Takato tossed and turned, a something was happening elsewhere.

Data energy pooled above a manhole. A beam of light shot up through the road and pierced the night sky, and ripples of white energy moved over everything. White fog, only with the appearance of data particles, exploded over everything. Rushing into and through every nook and cranny, the data fog obscured everything slightly.

Takato opened his eyes and panicked. However, it was only for a moment.

"Woah." A comforting feeling of deja vu settled in.

Takato saw that he was floating in midair above the sidewalk. And he could move very much. It wasn't like he was tied up or paralyzed, it was more like there wasn't anything to move in the first place. And was he really here or not? He had seen and done stranger things before time reset. Since trying to figure out exactly what was going on was giving him a headache, Takato refocused on the here and now.

'_I forgot this happened._'

Looking out onto the street, Takato saw something that brought on another burst of deja vu. A girl in a light trenchcoat causally stood in front of a huge, fiery tiger. Undaunted by the creature, the girl took off her sunglasses and declared "It's Lynxmon, versus Renamon." She stepped aside.

Behind where she had stood knelt a humanoid fox. It distinctly was not there a moment ago, but had blurred into place when Takato was distracted by Lynxmon, the giant tiger of flaming doom. Renamon stood and took a single step, right before a fiery blur tackled Renamon to the ground.

Even though he remembered how this fight turned out, Takato still winced at the attack. It looked brutal. But it wasn't they attack that made him flinch. It was the nonchalant attitude of the Tamer, of _Rika_, that hurt. The difference between the Rika he remembered and this new Rika- No. The difference between _his friend_ Rika and _the old_ Rika was almost painful to realize.

The confident and relaxed manner Rika handled the cards with. The showing off when she twirled one in her fingers.

"Renamon. Digi-Modify."

The unworried way she slashed one through her digivice. It was like she just didn't care. Not about anything but winning.

"Speed activate."

Renamon smirked, blurred, and all of a sudden she was high in the air and out from underneath Lynxmon. Dumbfounded, the tiger took a long moment to react to this new development. Renamon hung in the air, observing her surroundings and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Rika and Renamon," muttered Takato.

Renamon took in everything around her. This is what she lived for. A single attack, a multitude of strikes. A diamond honed to perfection. A storm to wreak the competition. To drive her prey to defeat.

"**Diamond Storm!"**

Shards of digital diamond formed in the air in front of Renamon. A flurry of them flew forward and struck Lynxmon. In a single instant, the storm was over and Lynxmon was deleted. Reduced to his component data, Lynxmon's digital energy was quickly absorbed by Renamon.

With the deletion of the digimon that caused it, the digital field began to fade. As did Takato's awareness of the area. Rika calmly returned her cards to the cardholder at her waist. As she walked away, she put her sunglasses back on.

"Rika."

Surprised by Renamon speaking up, Rika turned slightly and looked over her shoulder.

Renamon was down on one knee again, halfway inside the light beaming from the streetlight Rika was under. "I felt something back there."

"Gonna digivolve soon?" smirked Rika.

Renamon shook her head no. "It was something else. Or someone else."

Rika, no longer smirking, gave her digimon on a look. "Well?"

"Right before I used Diamond Storm, I saw something in my peripheral vision. I couldn't see it clearly and when I turned my eyes to look at it, it was gone. But it was definitely a human, holding a digivice in one hand."

Smirk returning, Rika commented "So. Another Tamer."

"Most likely," affirmed Renamon. "Rika. Whoever they were, they knew our names."

"Of course they knew names. Anyone who has played the card game should be able to recognize a Renamon and a Lynxmon when they saw one."

"Not that. _Your_ name and my name," Renamon worriedly spoke.

"Oh." A whirlwind of thoughts swirled in Rika's head. '_Am I being stalked?_' featured prominently among them. But once the potential implications sank in, Rika quickly decided that it didn't matter. "Doesn't change a thing. I'll be ready for whatever happens and you will beat the data out of anything that tries to get in my way."

Renamon stayed silent and kneeling. A reaffirmation of the status quo wasn't exactly what Renamon was looking for, but she would take what she could get.

...

**Digimon Tamers Loops… START! And stay tuned, there's more of this Loop in particular to come!**

**...**

Loop 1.2 ~ 1.1 (masterofgames)

Takato pondered the last twenty-four hours of his life as he scribbled in his spare notebook. He had been given a second chance, he knew that much. The hows and whys didn't particularly matter to him, he had no intention of questioning his good fortune, no matter how weird things got.

_'One perk of getting used to Digiworld I suppose.'_ he couldn't help but chuckle.

Last night he had met his partner for the first time all over again. He hadn't hesitated for an instant when his digivice had pointed him outside with the egg icon on the radar, he had simply ransacked his room for his goggles and slipped out his window into the night the first chance he got.

_'Come to think if it, why didn't I grab them until later last time? Goggles are awesome,' _he pondered as he leaned back in his chair, tapping his pencil against his desk. _'Unrelated, the Digivice needs a cooler name. In the cartoon's second season they were called D3s... I'll just add it to the list of stuff to figure out.'_

Shifting in his seat to sit straight once more, he looked over the open page of his notebook. It was filled with things that had happened last time that hadn't gone as well as he could see them going, and ways he might be able to improve them. Also included we're several things he just plain wanted to do, like _'Just once, play a card game with Kazu and wipe the smug look off his face.' _He was particularly looking forward to that one. On the bottom of the sheet, he scratched down his latest thoughts.

_Digivice = been done. Needs better name.  
>Giant digivice from last time = Digi-Arc.<br>Regular digivice = D-Arc? Think over later._

"-and if Takato will PAY ATTENTION, we can move on!" someone shouted right next to him, making him jump and collapse out if his seat.

Rubbing his head and looking up he was treated to the sight of his slightly annoyed homeroom teacher standing over him with her arms crossed, his classmates snickering behind her.

"Heh, sorry Ms. Asaji, won't happen again." He grinned sheepishly.

Ms. Asaji just rolled her eyes and sighed, heading back to the front of the class. Takato brushed himself off and got back in his seat, reaching over to close his notebook and put it away, but he paused. Hurriedly, he wrote one last thing.

_Ms. Asaji = Really reminds me of Kari for some reason. Is that weird?_

He flipped his notebook shut and slid it in his school bag. He could think it over during break.

...

**No, Takato, I'm **_**sure**_ **that will **_**never**_ **be relevant.**

**...**

Loop 1.3 (Leonite)

Ryo sighed as he slumped against a wall in the old castle. He had finally managed to calm Cyberdramon down to the point that he was sleeping but the process had pretty much drained him of his own energy. He was thankful for his partner, truly. But the fact that Milleniummon was inside him forcing him to be quick to anger and easy to force into a rage was frustrating. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a particular card he had used to defeat Rika in one of the tournaments... Milleniummon himself. There was always the temptation to scan this powerful card, but he never did... he didn't want to lose the niceness that Cyberdramon had in him.

"Hey." Ryo looked up and spotted Takato walking up to him slowly with a small grin on the young boy's face. "Mind if I join you?"

"It's a free wall," Ryo joked.

Takato nodded as he leaned against the wall. Awkward silence filled the air for the moment, Ryo could see it on Takato's face, he had something to say but was hesitating. "How do you deal with thing changing like they have for you?" Takato finally asked.

Ryo blinked. "I don't know what you mean Takato..."

"You don't need to lie to me Ryo, I've played the games."

"Those things?" Ryo chuckled. "Takato, those Wonderswan games were made as prizes for winning the card tournaments." Inwardly Ryo was shocked that Takato wasn't just close to the truth, but pretty much right on top of it.

Takato shook his head. "I'd believe you... if it wasn't for Cyberdramon," Takato said. "The fact that you have the same partner as the games is bad enough... the fact that he's angry? Has to be Milleniummon."

Ryo sighed. "How long...?"

"Don't worry, I only just figured it out... and there's a reason too," Takato sighed. "You'd probably be the only one who'd believe me... this is the second time I've gone through these events."

Ryo straightened up at that. If it had been any other person they'd have assumed the Tamer was kidding, but he knew from experience that time travel was possible, ENIAC alone was proof of that. "And you came to me because I know what it's like to be... displaced," Ryo remarked. As Takato nodded he sighed... and let a sad smile cross his face. "I won't lie to you Takato. It's never been easy for me to do this. Even though the others betrayed me I still miss the Digidestined. I miss teaming up with Agumon to free the other Digimon. The simplicity of a D3 compared to a D-ARC. And... I miss friends like Ken." At this silence engulfed the area again. "But at the same time I'm still trying to do my best. To be the best hero I can. To make new friends. And someone needs to look after Cyberdramon."

Takato's grin slowly widened. "Thanks Ryo... to be honest, the first time around we didn't really get a chance to bond much. No matter what happens though, you can always call me a friend," Takato said as he held out a hand.

Ryo looked at the hand... and smirked. He grasped it with his own and shook. "Same to you, no matter how many times I forget." As the two slowly stand up Ryo started to chuckle. "Wait, I just realized something... it took you how long to figure out my games were a bit too close to reality?"

Takato chuckled nervously. "Honestly? I didn't. It was Terriermon." he admitted. Ryo burst out laughing at that... and Takato joined in, two friends, one displaced by space, the other by time, having a chance to bond. And in the room in which he slumbered a small smile crossed Cyberdramon's lips.

...

**Your friends are your friends, even if they can't remember each and every experience you've had together.**

**...**

Loop 1.4 (AbZHz101)

Odin's Checklist for Preventing Loop Crashes:

Are there any MLEs in the current Loop?

What is the current mental health of the resident Anchor?

What is the physical durability of the resident Anchor?

Huginn, Muninn, stop bickering for five minutes. Now, what is the current state of the Anchor?

What is the current mental state of any other Loopers present?

Is there a possible problem in this Loop that I can use to prepare them for problems down the road?

Is there a possible problem in the future that I can use the current Loop to prepare them for?

Seriously, you two, shut up! Of the previous problems is there a likely way for them to be resolved by the Loopers without my intervention?

If I have to intervene does it have to be overtly?

Tell Loki that he can roast Huginn and Muninn.

...

**Hmm… Roasted Raven… Wonder if that tastes like chicken?**

**...**

Loop 1.5 (AbZHz101)

Takato sighed, it was difficult dealing with Rika with time reset. Not that Henry wasn't in his own way, but Rika was the more immediate focal problem. She was once again cold, distant, didn't think of Digimon as anything more than Data, and generally treated everybody like dirt especially when she didn't get her way. That might sound as though Rika was childish, but she _was _only thirteen* and had multiple problems at home, it wasn't that surprising. The facts didn't excuse it, but they did make where she was coming from more understandable. Which was why he _hated_ having to deal with IceDevimon. Yes, Rika actually did need this particular slap in the face to understand what kind of path she was headed down... still, she was his friend and having to see her and Renamon go through this trauma hurt. But Takato had been trying and he thought that a combination of the fact that he and Guilmon actually had _knew what they were doing this time_ and slight but constant reinforcement of the idea that Digimon were just like people: there could be good ones, bad ones, saints, and full-on psychopaths, had stuck.

While he hadn't been able to stop her abduction, because he _liked_ not being arrested on stalking charges _thank you very much_, his knowledge of where IceDevimon would take her had helped as they; and by they he meant Renamon, Guilmon, Terriermon, Henry, and himself; had burst in on the freak mid-rant about how alike they were. "Rika!" came the general cry.

"Renamon!" she replied in relief. Then almost as if she had just recognized the fact that Renamon _wasn't alone_, she paused and somewhat apprehensively asked, "What are you all doing here?" Takato mentally clocked this particular event as one they would not refer to again until near the time reset because Rika didn't like to be reminded of the moments that she was less than sure of herself... at least, not for a while.

Instead he responded with a question of his own, "Is it really _that_ surprising that we actually care what happens to you?" Rika didn't know what to say, almost as if torn between thinking that the sentiment was sweet and going over to pound him into next Tuesday both for using something so cheesy and also because they had put themselves in danger.

"So what now boy, are you planning on playing the White Knight and saving the Fair Damsel? Because I assure you that is _not_ how this story will go," IceDevimon taunted, flaring his wings.

"Well, you're right that I'm not going to be doing any rescuing," Takato conceded.

"Since Renamon and Rika are about to kick your frozen hiney back to the Big Bang," Guilmon finished with a smirk. "We're more or less here to keep you from running from your Just Desserts."

"Confident, are we?" IceDevimon demanded. "I'll show you just how wrong you are, and in the process show Rika just why _I_ deserve to be her partner!" Renamon took the challenge for what it was and the battle began.

And as was rather predictable, as IceDevimon was a Champion Level Virus in his own domain and Renamon was a Rookie Level Data Attribute it was going poorly for Renamon. Takato grimaced, he remembered that the first time it had been Guilmon who had finally taken this guy down, but he knew that Rika and Renamon could as well. It had really been after this incident that they had all become a team, and he didn't feel like he needed to wait for Rika to come to terms with everything during the battle with Harpymon, so it was time for one last intervention. "Rika! What are you doing?" he yelled. "You're letting this sociopath walk all over you. I know that you and Renamon can take this guy no sweat, so why are you letting him get in your head? Come on, show us why you're the best!"

He wasn't sure if he had fully gotten through, but from the looks of it, he had lit a fire in her heart. Her eyes were sharper, her posture straighter, her movements more focused. Rika gripped her D-Arc and by memory pulled out one card to turn the tides. "**Digi-Modify!**" she cried, sliding the card through the slot, "**SkullMeramon Activate!**" IceDevimon's eyes widened in terror, perhaps realizing for the first time what it meant to fight against a Tamer and their Partner, or the fact that Rika might not want him to _be_ her Partner. Renamon's temperature shot up like a rocket, warming the air and beginning to thaw the frozen domain.

"**Icy Shower!**" he cried desperately, but the attack melted and turned to nothing before the heat that Renamon was giving off. Then he tried to flee, only to find as he attempted to do so through the walls a fireball, not originating from Renamon, blast right where he would have been. Turning to see what had launched the attack, IceDevimon saw Guilmon shaking his head with a dark smirk, as if to say, "Nuh uh, not this time." He turned back to Renamon broken, whimpering in terror unable to face his Doom.

Renamon did not drag the fight out. "**Heavy Metal Fire!**" she cried, launching the Ultimate Level Fire technique at the pitiful Champion. It struck IceDevimon square in the chest, deleting him on contact. With it's master gone, the formerly frozen world, now little more than slush disappeared as well, though none of the three remaining Digimon moved to collect the data, who knew what cesspit it had been dragged through.

As Renamon went to stand next to Rika, the girl's confidence somewhat waned, "Renamon?" she asked tentatively, oh yeah there was no way they were going to be able to talk about this for a while.

"Yes, Rika?" Renamon wondered.

"I... There's some things going on... in my head right now... Do you mind if we waited until I get everything sorted out before we figure out what to do?"

"Of course not, Rika," Renamon replied gently. "Take all the time you need, I'll be ready."

Takato smiled at the scene. Maybe this wouldn't be a total victory... but perhaps that was for the best. For now, this was pretty darn good.

...

*10 in original Japanese.

**Oh early Loops, they are so much fun.**

**...**

Loop 1.6 (Crisis)

If Takato had one great failing, it was his temper. Sure, he wasn't the brightest, the strongest, or the most skilled, but his friends would generally tell others that he was a nice guy and they weren't afraid to tease him mercilessly. But those who knew him well would tell you that when his temper flared, it didn't do half measures. No, it blew with the force of a bomb and the wrath of a volcano.

Takato knew this about himself. It was one of the reasons he did his best to be so easy going, because when he lost his temper... nothing mattered. Nothing except hurting the target if his ire. He'd worked on it his whole life. Both of them. Not much made him lose his temper anymore, but the few things that did still get to him... When they did, his anger burned all the hotter.

Like now. He'd been so certain he could head this off. So certain that with a bit of planning and cunning he and the others could stop Beelzemon, the Mega form of their sort-of friend Impmon, before he went too far. But the gap between a Mega level digimon and their own champion level partners was just too much to bridge. Their clever tactics that he'd insisted they work on fizzled and their carefully selected cards made no difference.

And now Leomon was dead. Again.

And Takato wanted blood.

He didn't care that Impmon was able to redeem himself the last time around. He didn't care that he was about to try and kill one of their best allies against the D-Reaper. He wanted Beelzemon to lie broken and bleeding before him.

In a flash of red, Growlmon became WarGrowlmon without the need for a blue card and charged, his pupils shrunken to pinpricks in his viral rage.

_'Hurt him,'_ Takato growled as the Ultimate and Mega traded blows.

_'Break him,'_ he grit his teeth as the larger Ultimate bit down on the smaller Mega.

"You tryin' ta make me laugh?!" Beelzemon's eyes blazed with madness. "I'm a Mega level digimon! You're nothing before me! I'll take down the best in the world and become even stronger!"

_'Kill him,'_ Takato thought as he glared right back in fury.

"You think you're so strong?!" the tamer yelled as he dug deep into himself and threw every last bit of his rage across the link to his partner. A small part of him screamed at himself to stop, that this would only make things worse, but it was drowned out in the crimson haze clouding his eyes and mind. "We'll burn you to ashes! WE'LL TAKE YOU DOWN EVEN IF WE HAVE TO BURN THE WHOLE WORLD TO DO IT!"

A pillar of flame engulfed WarGrowlmon at the declaration and when it died down, the massive bestial form of Megidramon stood in his place. The hazard symbol on his chest pulsed ominously as the great dragon digimon stared down at his opponent.

One look was all it took to shake Takato out of his rage, but the damage was done. Again.

_'No... Not again,'_ he thought as he felt his D-Arc crack and shatter in his hand for the second time as a result of what he'd forced through it. The first time this had happened, he'd thought he'd triggered something from the digital world, but this time... This time that had all come straight from him. There was no denying it. _'I... I always thought I accessed the Digital Hazard when I tried to force Guilmon to evolve further, but... But is it possible...? Am _I _the Digital Hazard?'_

_..._

**Takato getting angry + Early Loop = Bad**


	2. It Begins Again

Chapter 2

(masterofgames) Loop 2.1

Takato sighed as he sorted through his admittedly pathetic collection of cards. "How did I ever believe that I could hold my own with these? On that note, how did I MANAGE to hold my own with these?" he muttered to himself as he placed yet another card on the largest of the piles, Rookie level. "There's something to be said for low cost and easy to use, but in the game, both Tamers start out at the same level. When you're facing Ultimate levels right out the gate like we're going to be, these just won't cut it."

He knew there were only two solutions, but one required more money than his allowance would cover, and the other was a hard one to accept. Still, he ultimately had no choice, and a good half hour later, he had worked up the nerve to pick up the phone.

...

Perhaps posing as a fan from her tournaments hadn't been the brightest idea when asking for training.

"DRAW!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Takato stammered as he filled his hand.

Rika glared down at him. "Your opponent is a champion Vaccine type. Fire element. Power oriented. Able to attack up close or at range. You have five seconds to put your little Virus Rookie in a position of strength. GO!"

Takato glanced over his hand. "Um... I use Digmon's Drill and... play defense until he's tired out?"

"Tunnel's flooded with fire. Your Rookie is toast. Game over. Are you TRYING to waste my time here!? Idiot!"

"Wait, wait! I'm- Oh god not again! Not the ear! NOT THE EAR!"

* * *

><p>(AbZHz101) Loop 2.2<p>

The Desert Layer of the Digital World was never known for its large groups. There was only one village on the entire level, made of Digimon created from data that quite simply no one wanted. However, the world became even more desolate when a new Digimon would stake out it's turf. This was either because the Digimon would kill previous owners in making its claim, die, or some combination of the above. All Digimon had an internal ladder cataloging how powerful they were in regards to the other locals, and even the most data-thirsty had enough sense of preservation to know not to mess with a newcomer that was so far above them that they couldn't compare themselves. Given that those Digimon had likely uploaded mountains of opponents, everymon made themselves scarce only peeking out glimpses to tell where the new Digimon's territory would extend, if only to know how far they had to go before they were safe. Thus when an Exalted Knight Digimon passed through the layers, the locals watched from the shadows, hoping that the Digimon would move on... but regardless, their internal maps of territory would have to be reevaluated.

Though the conquering of territory was the last thing on the Knight's mind at the moment. Takato and Guilmon, as Gallantmon, were searching for something... someone. They didn't know if they would find what they were looking for but they had to try. They were moving in Mega because they had realized that a lone Mega was much less likely to be attacked than a Digimon of any level and a Human Partner. Damn rumors. They had been through quite a few resets by now and Takato was starting to get worried. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, he had figured that who or whatever had caused time to keep resetting had something they wanted him to do. The thing was, Takato had no idea. he had done his best to make everything right and last time they didn't do that badly in his own opinion, but time had still reset. So he would go out to see if he couldn't talk to someone and see what he should actually be doing. He had already asked, Hypnos... after he convinced Yamaki that their current plans were a _bad idea,_ but no one had had any clue as to what was going on with time. It was the same with the Monster Makers. So he had tried for options more digital. Unfortunately even after convincing the Sovereign of his sincerity he had gotten no closer to an actual answer.

Now here he was in his ninth "night" in the digital world after his audience with the Sovereign somewhere between frustrated and concerned. He had logically known that this could very well happen, but he had been so sure that he'd be able to get _something_. Then he saw something that definitely drew his attention. On the top of a nearby plateau was an ash tree, in it's branches were two sleeping Yatagaramon and below them two Garurumon, and while ash trees were not exactly desert species the Digital World had done far stranger. However, that wasn't his main concern, _that_ was reserved for the fact that there was a Jijimon hanging from one of the branches, his staff impaling his side. He stopped for a moment, he knew from experience that in the Digital World things like gravity and breathing were technically "optional" but the sight was still somewhat terrifying and disturbing. Not sure what to do, Gallantmon leapt toward the strange sight. As his feet touched the ground, the two Perfects and Champions stirred. As the Garurumon's eye opened, _something_ flashed in the darkness that put Takato on edge. Somehow he knew that if he had to fight even one of these Digimon he wouldn't stand a chance. Drowsily, one of the Perfects asked, "What are you doing here, Siguror? Aren't you supposed to be in the Human's World? You usually don't pass this way until much later."

_'Who's Siguror?'_ Gallantmon mentally wondered. _'Wait, what did he just say?!'_ "Do you know why time keeps turning back?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course not," the other Yatagaramon replied. "If we knew it would have been fixed before you even noticed the problem."

_'Are they alright?'_ Guilmon mentally asked Takato.

_'I really don't know,'_ Takato replied. _'But it seems like they're our best shot right now.'_

Turning away from the two insane Perfects for the moment Gallantmon directed his next question to the two Champions. "Um... what's going on here?"

The Garurumon on the right looked at him dully and replied, "We're waiting, you're confused, and _those two_ are..." the Garurumon shot a dry look at the tree and the Yatagaramon within- "Being themselves. That seems to be a rather accurate summation of the current situation."

_'Yeah, and tells me nothing about what's going on here.'_

Then the dawn, anticlimactic as always in the Digital World, came, significantly brightening up the area. Once the dawn touched the Jijimon, he began to stir. Gallantmon watched in shock as the Jijimon easily removed his staff without seeming to harm himself, certainly data didn't start to leak out, and cut the rope keeping him off the ground. "Always nice to get a refresher course," the Mega said to himself. Then the Jijimon addressed Gallantmon as if nothing major had just happened, "Alright in there boy? It looks like you're running on an eight-bit processor."

"I think the world has decided to go temporarily insane around you, sir," Gallantmon noted in disbelief.

"Might have," the other Mega agreed. "But in my experience some of the best advice has come out of the mouths of mad men and women. So, what knightly quest brings you here good sir?" he asked jovially.

"Well, I was looking for someone who knew why time keeps turning back, and what I should do. Then I saw you, and I've just been trying to figure out what's been going on since," Gallantmon replied.

"Ah, well why do you think time is resetting?" the Jijimon asked, leaning forward on his staff in interest.

"I... I don't know. I think someone is giving me a second chance at things, since I made mistakes the first time."

"Ah, a chance to get it right, as it were? Like saving your game just before a boss fight, and restarting if you don't do it right or if you don't get the prize you want?"

"Yeah," Takato agreed. "Only, last time I thought I did rather well. If I didn't do well enough or something else didn't happen... I'd just like to know I'm on the right path, you know? I'm trying not to waste this, but how can I know if I'm going about things the right way when every time it ends the same way?"

"Hmm… Yes, that would be a problem," the old man Digimon agreed, pondering. "Though maybe, to take our previous analogy further, the game disk is scratched up and for whatever reason just can't load what happens next. After all, when that kind of glitch would occur, you'd probably just shut off the game, try to fix whatever seems to be wrong and try and get to the next part of the game... but you're not going to make the same mistakes you did before... unless the game railroads you or you for whatever reason want to do things the same way as the first time. But if the scratch or whatever problem the disk has is rather big, you're more likely to figure out the best way to proceed to the next point in the game before you can figure out how to fix the game to advance." He paused. "Well, that or toss the game into the trash, but as the game is your life, you probably don't want that, so that's where our analogy rather falls apart I'm afraid."

"Well if that's true, then what should I do?"

"I'd say," the smaller Mega replied, "try and get as far in "the game" as you can. Though if it were me, if it seems like you can keep your "skills" from the last attempts, I'd try getting as far as you can in multiple ways. Might help with the monotony."

"That idea sounds rather insane," Gallantmon noted.

"Oh does it?" Jijimon asked happily. "Then it must be good!"

Gallantmon noticed that a data stream was starting to erratically move in the manner that told him to get ready to dodge. The data stream launched in his general direction, but it looked like it would pass just in front of him. "Look out!" he called. He knew that being picked up by a data stream was technically harmless, but it was rather annoying trying to get your bearings after they had swept you away.

None of the other Digimon reacted, as if they either didn't hear him or just didn't care. "Oh, and before I forget, Kent asks that you take good care of Grani!" Jijimon told him happily before the data stream swept him, the Yatagaramon, the Garurumon, and the tree away leaving him alone on the plateau.

* * *

><p>(masterofgames) Loop 2.3<p>

Takato most certainly did not whimper as he selected his cards from his collection. Boys did not whimper, thus that could not be the sound he was making.

The terror of Rika's training the past few loops just meant he was... humming. Yeah, that had to be it. Humming in one steady note that was filled with the memories of pain and humiliation that he was most certainly not thinking about.

He was still bringing a set of headphones for protection this time.

...

"Data type! Flyer! Electric element! Speed oriented! Champion!"

"GeoGreymon's Mega Flame! Aim at the ground! Kick up dirt and dust! Minerals in the cloud will act as a conductive net dispersing ranged attacks! Force them to get in close!"

"Vaccine type! Landbound! Earth element! Ambush oriented! Rookie!"

"Data Training Manual! Change partner to Data type! Odds of side effects from attack minimal! Let them strike first, then counterattack! Once in sight, do not let them out of it!"

"Virus type! Floater! Dark element! Power oriented! Rookie! Evolution likely! Can power up from consuming data!"

"Only digimon that fits that description is Keramon! Play Alias card! Run like hell! If anyone asks, I totally had it under control!"

"Data Type! Landbound! Beast type! Light element! Speed oriented! Rookie!"

"Recognize when I'm outclassed! Offer comment to tamer that could be misinterpreted as flirting! Also run like hell! Save cards for when she shakes off the shock and- ACK! No! Let me gAH! My arm does not bend that way oh god why!?"

"How the HELL do you know about me and Renamon!?"

* * *

><p>(Masterofgames) Loop 2.4<p>

**Takato's To-Do List**

Do not read if not Takato, okay? Thanks.

There. That should keep this private.

Terriermon going nuts. Should probably try and keep him from getting between Renamon and Guilmon. If unable, get all tamers to safety. Things only really got bad when Renamon flipped out over Gargomon's gun being aimed at Rika. Might be able to keep everyone from starting off on the wrong foot.

Gorillamon. Terriermon didn't upload him. Came all the way to the real world for revenge, so can't be called a good digimon. Maybe let Impmon upload him, as sign of good faith? May need to trick him though, probably too proud for charity. Probably ask he only take half while I get Guilmon for the rest. That should ensure he takes it all.

Vilemon. Keep school shed unlocked to minimize damage. Maybe let Impmon test his new strength before getting involved. Appeal to ego and/or urge to prove self.

Dokugumon. Renamon didn't upload. Tried to eat Rika, so not a good digimon. No reason to let go to waste. Have Guilmon upload instead after they leave.

Devidramon. Could be a good teamwork introduction for Impmon. Try and stay in rookie form, not going through the park/paint problem again if I can help it. Give half of data to Impmon, for a reward if a win, for healing if a loss.

IceDevimon. Get Impmon to take him before he takes Rika. Good test to see if he's changing his mind about us. Come to think of it, how would Rika react to Impmon? Digimon only care about strength, vs Freedom preference outlooks?

DarkLizardmon. Beat fast, before HYPNOS can capture. No capture, no Juggernaut, no damaging the hole between worlds. No Deva?

Vajramon, (If it still happens). Hear him out? Was willing to be civil. Debate our point of view? Talk him down? Also, ask how he came back to life. May be useful for Leomon if unable to fix.

Indramon, (If it still happens). Last chance to check Impmon's attitude progress. Will he let us help, or solo again?

Leomon. Get Rika to teach Jeri sooner, have her help build a deck. Make sure deck includes Alias card, just in case.

Beelzemon. Impmon really didn't have a choice here, even if it may have looked otherwise. Hopefully he'll like us enough by then that we can talk him down, or even get him to team up with us. Why should he, a mega, obey the orders of an ultimate level?

Behemoth. ... WTF? I don't even.

* * *

><p>(masterofgames) Loop 2.5<p>

_'It really is a pain,_' Takato reflected as he tore through his collection in a frenzy. _'That I need to rebuild my deck from scratch every time I start over. It's an even bigger pain that I was so messy before this all started. Now where was the High Speed Plug In card again? Ah, right, sock drawer.'_ Grabbing it and placing it in his deck, he quickly flipped through them to see if it stood a better chance than last time of getting him through Rika's boot camp. "I should probably come up with a name for the whole resetting time thing." he muttered softly as he shuffled. "Maybe... Loading? Yeah, like loading video game data from an earlier save. _'Time Loading'_. I like that." he grinned. "Now if I could just find a way to keep my deck the way I left it..."

...

Takato was being more cautious this time. Answering on autopilot had done wonders for his tactical thinking speed, but letting slip anything he wasn't supposed to know wound up with him in a headlock more often than not.

"Vaccine! Beast type! Fire and steel element! Power oriented! Champion! Armed!"

"Uh... Training Grips and Ogremon's Club if up close! Deputymon's Revolver if ranged! Toughness Plug In either way!"

"Data! Fire type and element! Range oriented! Ultimate! Armored!"

"Frigimon's Sub-Zero Ice Punch! Use fire's strength over ice to get him cocky! Keep dodging until he melts the ice! Flooded area will weaken him to upper champion levels! Dolphmon's Sonar Pulse ignores physical armor! Use it to finish him off!"

"Vaccine! Rock type! Earth element! Defense oriented! Champion!"

"Hand to hand until a punch connects to a vital area! Digmon's Drill at exact moment of impact!"

"Vaccine! Beast type! Light element! Speed oriented! Rookie! Landbound!"

"U-um..."

"I'm waiting!"

"C-Cerberumon's Emerald Blaze! Pin them in to restrict mobility and intimidate! Before engaging at all, make sure I am not about to attack an actual cat!"

"Gatomon's a CHAMPION you scrub! Going off looks will get you killed!"

"Oh god! No! Plea- Not the KIDNEY!"

...

(masterofgames) Loop 2.5b

"Virus! Bird type! Holy element! Power oriented! Mega!"

"Digivolve to mega myself and stab the four eyed, feathered, stuck up jerk in the face!"

"... Wait what?"

"Huh? Oh! Uh... calmly! No need risking dark digivolution!"

"Kid... you have issues."

* * *

><p><strong>2.1<br>...Masochist.**

**2.2  
>Did you count the (Norse) Mythology Gags?<strong>

**2.3****...No, seriously, he is**

**2.4  
>Leonite: Is it bad that I misread that at first as being Terriermon's list? Written in the style of Mordin Solus?<strong>

**Explaination: When it was first written the title was missing "Takato's." He also didn't bother asking other people not to read.**

**2.5  
>...Exhibit 3<strong>

**2.5b  
>...And 4<strong>


End file.
